The Latest from Devoney and Wild for Austen

Dear Jane-Friends:

“Pictures of perfection as you know make me sick & wicked.”

It’s just one line from Austen’s pen, in a private letter musing about heroines of novels. But it might serve as an abridgment of what’s most admirable and remarkable about her craft and philosophy, in its unconventional—and dare I say wild?—aspects.

When I was charged with describing Austen’s genius in just five minutes on a panel at the JASNA meeting in October, that’s the line I chose to talk about to 950 other attendees. The transcript of that panel goes live today in Persuasions On-Line, as the much-anticipated big day has arrived—Tuesday, December 16th, 2025, Jane Austen’s 250th birthday.

In talking about Austen over the course of the past months, I was (fortunately) rarely limited to just five minutes. However, that one other time I was limited as to the number of minutes has become, for me, the most memorable of them all. I was interviewed by CBS Sunday Morning’s wonderful Seth Doane for the show’s Jane Austen at 250 segment, which aired on December 12, 2025.

It was recorded in July at the Global Jane Austen Conference in the UK, but I was rightly asked to keep a lid on it. There’s always a chance a segment won’t run or that an interviewee ends up on the cutting room floor. It was such a thrill to learn last week that Austen (and my talking about Austen) had made the cut. I so relish having had this chance to talk about her staying power to millions of viewers. It was both a career and a Janeite highlight, and I hope I did her justice.

That fabulous news came just after learning that my book Wild for Austen was named to the USA Today Best-selling Book list. (I still can’t quite believe it either!) My heartfelt thanks to those of you who bought, read, rated, and reviewed it and helped get it into the hands of more readers. If you’re looking for a signed copy for yourself or for a holiday gift, then Changing Hands Bookstore could help make that happen. (Another case of books is coming there for me to sign this week.) If you want me to hook you up with a bookplate, for yourself or a loved one, then just drop me a line at my university email address, and I’ll pop it into the mail.

Today I’m looking forward to staying put, rather than getting on a plane or a train. Don’t get me wrong. I do like to travel. But I might have overdone it a little bit during these past months? Ha! As some of you know, this fall had me talking Wild for Austen on an 18-city book tour, spanning four countries, at some of the world’s greatest libraries, including the Huntington Library, the National Library of Australia, and The British Library.

Along the way, I met so many wonderful people—including some of you reading this now (Hey! Hi!)—whose stories of reading Austen were really moving. I also got to learn things, in conversation with Austen-writer-scholar powerhouses including Janet Todd, Claudia L. Johnson, Susannah Fullerton, Janine Barchas, Bee Rowlatt, Rachel Cohen, Rebecca Romney, Uzma Jalaluddin, and others.

It’s been such an incredible privilege, this chance to talk Austen and Wild for Austen with so many. But I admit I’ve also sometimes missed focusing intently on a book, “twisting . . . about in one of our great chairs,” as Austen once described her nephew’s novel reading. So my plan for today is to carve out some twisting-about hours, beginning with The Watsons, then seeing where a whim takes me.

First, however, I’m starting off the morning with a live radio conversation about Austen on The 1A, the NPR syndicated show with host Jenn White, in conversation with brilliant novelist Nikki Payne. (If you’d like to listen live, it’ll be on at 11 a.m. ET, although the show can also be accessed later.)

I love talking with smart hosts, which might explain how I came to be a guest on nearly a dozen radio shows and podcasts in the second half of 2025. Several more are dropping this week. If you’d like learn about them as soon as they roll out, then check for announcements on my Facebook or Instagram. In the meantime, let me just say how grateful I am to my employer, Arizona State University, my publisher, St. Martin’s Press, my agent and editor (pictured below), and all of the makers, organizers, and do-ers who’ve amplified Austen, and stories of Wild for Austen, in 2025?

Please share your stories about celebrating the 250th or what we should notice happening this week during this historic milestone for our favorite author. Austen’s sestercentennial year has been absolutely incredible and a bright spot in these times. But, hey, don’t count out Jane Austen for 2026! I don’t think she is—or we are— going away anytime soon. Thankfully!

Your quite frequently humble and reluctantly obedient servant,
Devoney

P. S. MIGHT YOU RATE OR REVIEW? If you’ve read and enjoyed Wild for Austen, then I’d be ever so grateful if you took a moment today to rate or review it. (Goodreads, they say, has the most impact.)

P. P. S. TWO FABULOUS AUSTEN-INSPIRED SHORT FILMS. Following up on the last missive: I’ve now seen Jane Austen’s Period Drama, and it’s totally hilarious. I truly hope it gets the Oscar nom. I also saw the beautiful short film, Manydown, from Sarah Rose Kearns and Prerna Ramachandra. Both projects absolutely deserve funding for a full-length treatment. Here’s hoping someone with the means recognizes how smart a decision that would be.